The present invention concerns a system for testing the attachment of an electrocardiograph (ECG) electrode, this means being intended for use in connection with an electrode monitoring the function of heart, muscles or other organs, to indicate the event of the electrode's detachment from its fixing base, said electrode having been provided with a voltage monitoring apparatus.
ECG electrodes and their ancillaries are nowadays extensively used in examinations of the heart or brain, or in general when observing the electrical voltages and voltage changes on a patient's organs. Such monitoring is accomplished with the aid of said ECG electrode, which has been attached to the body part under observation and connected to amplifier, pulse shaper, display and other requisite units, and possibly to a recorder. Attachment of the electrode on the skin is usually done with the aid of adhesive tape or any other binding element, and using a compound which improves the contact between skin and electrode.
These means of prior art have their drawbacks, however. Difficulties are in particular experienced in ascertaining the continuous attachment of the electrode to the skin, because accidental detachment is not readily noticed. To this end a testing apparatus has been used in connection with an ECG electrode, consisting of a separate lead and of a signal voltage source including a current intensity meter indicating the signal current passing between the electrode and the human subject. When this current is broken, one knows that the electrode has become detached. However, this procedure implies the use of an extra lead attached to the patient, this lead requiring a fixing of its own and thus even further complicating the situation, as well as a signal voltage, which then even introduces the risk of electric shock to the patient.